Page 171 of The Billionaire Boss and the Barista

“All right—thingsmighthave been a little harder,” Garrett acknowledged. “But we would have made it work.”

Especially if they’d both known Stella was on the way.

“Hey, you’re preaching to the choir here. I wouldn’t bet against you and Emma.” Rainer huffed as if amused. “You don’t know how you look at her sometimes.”

“Untrue. I’m well aware I stare at her like a lovesick jackass—kind of how you look when George walks into the room in a new dress.”

Rainer pitched the towel at his head. “Hey, I’ll have you know she gets that in her ratty grease-stained coveralls, too.”

He turned his loving gaze to his wife. George glanced up as if sensing his regard. They exchanged one of those married looks, a moment of shared intimacy. At least until the furball pounced on her, forcing her to turn back to the game she’d abandoned.

“I’m glad you have this too,” Rainer said with genuine emotion. “No offense but you were starting to worry me.”

As little as three or four months ago, he would have been annoyed. But he knew better. Him before finding Emma again versus him now—there was no comparison.

“I’m happy.” That was all there was to it.

“That’s good. That’s really good.” Rainer gave him an assessing once-over. “Although, never in my wildest dreams could I have seen you as a father. But you’re handling being a dad rather well.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” he muttered. “I’ve been cramming child-rearing books like nobody’s business but have yet to remember a damn thing when it matters. Like when she wakes up in the night and wants one of us to get in bed with her until she falls asleep. According to the books, we’re to reassure her but be firm that she’s to go to bed alone.”

“Didn’t work?”

“Hell no. Emma ended up sleeping with her till morning.”

He loved his baby girl so much already but that was not a pattern he wanted her to fall into. Nor did Garrett want to encourage Stella to crawl into their bed if she woke up scared.

In all the craziness of Stella’s homecoming, he and Emma had been forced to turn the dial down on their sex life—not a pattern he wanted to maintain.

Not that he hadn’t taken a few steps to remedy the situation. Pulling Emma into the coat closet yesterday had been lots of fun. Still, he had a very large and comfortable bed and he wanted to use it.

“Do I have to do something about Fletcher?” he asked.

The messy beginning had been his fault, of course. If he hadn’t accused Emma of industrial espionage, Fletcher wouldn’t have become prejudiced against her.

But the man should have corrected course by now. He and Emma were married, for Pete’s sake. Garrett couldn’t have his business partner upsetting his wife.

“Your call,” Rainer said. “But you know how awkward he can be. God knows he tries, but he’s never really fit in with the rest of our crew.”

Garrett wouldn’t have put it in quite those terms. But even he had to admit that Fletcher wasn’t his first port of call when he needed help. The man next to him was.

“Elias said he’s been riding my coattails since high school.”

“There is some truth to that,” Rainer admitted withsome reluctance. “And it’s something he seems to be aware of, which can’t be a comfortable headspace to be in constantly. That doesn’t mean he hasn’t been a decent partner to you. He’ll relax about the Emma situation soon enough. In the meantime, he’s trying to make it up to you the only way he knows how.”

“That he is.”

It made sense. His business partner had been trying to make amends when he stepped up to handle their workload. But Garrett would have to keep a closer eye on that situation. And he needed to speak to Emma about it as soon as she got home.

That was his intention anyway. Until Stella decided to derail his plans.

Chapter Sixty-Six

GARRETT

The night began on a good note. Great, in fact. Emma and her mother were spending the day with his decorator, going from showroom to showroom to finish up Mariana’s place while he stayed home to watch Stella.

It was the first time he’d watched her on his own for more than a few hours without George next door to back him up if he needed it. The mechanic was busy with a new project that had a strict deadline.